The Return of Mr. Bean is the second episode of the live-action TV series, produced by Tiger Television for Thames Television. It originally aired over ITV on November 5, 1990.
This was the first episode to be co-written by regular collaborator Robin Driscoll (alongside Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson) and the first to feature the familiar Howard Goodall choral Latin-dubbed theme (Ecce homo qui est faba, English for Behold the Man, who is a Bean) performed by the choir of Southwark Cathedral. It is the first episode to also introduce the familiar title sequence, albeit in a Black and white format.
For all across of 9 English uploads on both the official channel and Classic Mr. Bean channel masses 70 million views on YouTube as of 2025, with the 6th reupload being the highest viewed out of all 9 uploads.
Synopsis
Mr. Bean tries out his new American Express credit card at a department store, he visits a fancy restaurant for his birthday and is served an unwanted dish, leading him to try a variety of strategies to avoid eating it, and then has an unfortunate altercation with Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.
Plot
Act One: The Busker
Mr. Bean sees a busker playing a saxophone and wants to drop some change in his case. However, he finds he has no change and does not want to spend a paper bill. So, he places a handkerchief on the ground in front of him and dances to the saxophone music until an elderly woman leaves Bean a coin, which he then drops into the saxophonist's case and continues into the tunnel.
Act Two: Shopping
Bean tries out his new American Express charge card at an Allders department store which is having a sale. Before walking through the perfume department, he flashes his card. Bean, not liking the smell of perfume, coughs and holds his breath as he walks through the department. He then resumes shopping by testing everything he wants to buy before choosing it. First, before choosing a toothbrush, Bean opens its packaging and brushes his teeth with the toothbrush, then puts it back and chooses another toothbrush from the display. Then, before choosing a bath towel, he wears it around his waist. Bean ascends on an escalator, but when it ends, he stops moving and does not realise this. After realising this, he walks to the kitchen department, takes a potato out of his coat pocket, and peels it with a knife he wants to buy. Before buying a frying pan, he pulls a fish out of his coat pocket to see which frying pan it fits on. After choosing the one that fits, he goes to a display of telephones, but after assuming the disconnected display models are broken, he chooses the telephone from the receptionist's desk and takes it with him, plug and all, presumably because he heard a dialling tone when he picked it up. Bean goes to the register and places his card on the counter. Another man's identical card gets covered under his briefcase, and he accidentally takes Bean's card, so Bean quietly pickpockets the man and gets his card back from the wallet. But when Bean puts the wallet pack in the man's pocket, his hand gets stuck in it, and the man unwittingly pulls him all the way to the lavatory. Bean ends up in a toilet stall and uncomfortably watches the man sit on the toilet. However, after Bean's hand becomes free, he is stuck in the stall. However, the stall does not have toilet paper, so while the man looks for a roll, Bean offers him one, shocking the man.
Act Three: The Restaurant
Mr. Bean goes to a restaurant on his birthday and orders a steak tartare (after gifting a birthday card to himself and getting surprised by it and showing it off and then endeared by what he wrote himself), which he expected to be a regular steak. A waiter comes by offering him to try the house wine, which he swiftly drinks and stares at the waiter smiling. As he's about to pour some more, Mr. Bean declines, saying he's driving and he may end up drunk driving. Then he shows off the napkin the waiter brought him, only to lose it when it flies towards a neighbouring table and he pretends it's not his. Once the steak arrives, he is disgusted by the tartare's taste and appearance (assuming it is half-cooked), so he cuts it up and hides the pieces in different places (ashtray, tiny vase, hollowed-out roll, under a plate, sugar basin, violinist's trousers, handbag). The violinist won't walk off until Mr. Bean has a bite, and as soon as he turns around, Mr. Bean spits it down said trousers. Conveniently, a waiter walks by and gets tripped by Mr. Bean's leg while Mr. Bean is hiding his tartare in the woman's handbag. He spills his tray onto Bean's table, which provides him with an opportunity to cover up his actions by showing the waiter and the maitre d' that the tartare has ended up inside the vase, inside his bread, under his plate, in the trousers, and in a handbag. The maitre d' apologises and promptly moves Mr. Bean to another table, where the waiter brings out a free dish, which, unfortunately for Mr. Bean, is another steak tartare, seemingly bigger than the first. Although Bean is appalled, he must eat it, as the maitre d', the waiter, and the violinist are all watching him.
Act Four: The Royal Premiere
Mr. Bean is waiting to meet the Queen Mother at a royal premiere at the Odeon Leicester Square cinema but is quite unprepared (his nails and teeth are dirty, his breath smells so bad, and his shoes are unpolished). He manages to rectify most of these problems to his satisfaction (using spit to polish his shoes, folding back the corners of a postcard to serve as a pocket handkerchief, and using a loose thread from a waitress to floss his teeth). Still, when he uses his trousers' zip to clean his fingernail, the zip gets stuck, and he only manages to force it back up just before the Queen Mother greets him. Preparing for a bow, Mr. Bean accidentally headbutts the Queen, who is knocked to the floor. As confusion ensues, Mr. Bean runs for it.
Cast
- Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Bean
- Dave O'Higgins as The Busker
- Paul McDowell as The Customer
- William Van Dyck as The Checkout Manager
- John Junkin as The Maître D'
- Roger Lloyd Pack as The Waiter
- Steve McNicholas as The Violinist
- Robin Driscoll as The Cinema Manager
- Matilda Ziegler as The Waitress
- Tina Maskell as The Royal
Production
Most of the opening act was recorded on OB videotape at an Allders department store in Sutton, although the opening scene was filmed at an underpass in Twickenham. The rest of the episode was recorded before a live audience at Thames Television's Teddington Studios.
In 1991, it was announced 20th Century Fox had a feature film adaptation of Mr. Bean in development. They remade Act 3 into a short film: Mr. Bean Goes to a Première and attached it to their theatrical releases. It was also included on the UK VHS rental release of Hot Shots! Part Deux.
The remastered version of the episode replaces the original black and white opening title with the standard "street" version.
Alternate Version
For the original VHS releases, the audio tracks for the first three episodes were remixed to accommodate the NICAM stereo upgrade from episode four onward. There are additional, albeit subtle sounds such as environmental soundscapes added to outdoor scenes. These remixed audio tracks are available on some of the earlier PAL DVD sets, with the 20th anniversary edition from Universal reverting back to the originally broadcast audio tracks.
Trivia
- This is the first appearance of the black and white opening sequence as well as the theme tune "Ecce Homo qui est faba". It is also the second episode to be shot entirely on video.
- This episode has a copyright of Thames Television 1990 in the original release while the French release had a copyright of Thames Television 1992.
- This is the last episode to air in 1990.
- Mr. Bean's American Express card is ironically registered to "THAMES TV PLC"
- Mr. Bean would again send himself a letter in the episode, "Merry Christmas, Mr. Bean".
- The Cinema Manager, seen standing left of Mr. Bean, was played by the writer Robin Driscoll.
- The Waitress, seen standing right of Mr. Bean, was played by Matilda Ziegler, who would go on to portray Mr. Bean's girlfriend and series regular, Irma Gobb, starting with the next episode.
- Mr. Bean is again dancing in the park with his Teddy Bear in the animated episode Mime Games where the lady drops the coin and he uses the coin to drop into the silver statue to see the silver statue's reaction.
- Mr. Bean would dance again in the movie Mr. Bean's Holiday based on the music which played from the speaker belonging to a CD seller. Unlike this episode, he and Stephan got a lot of money from the public and used the money to buy foods and bus tickets. Mr. Bean hiding the food into another's woman handbag is again seen on the said film.
- This episode and Tee Off, Mr. Bean, are the only live-action episodes where Mr. Bean's Mini does not appear. Both episodes have the similarity in that the Mini was destroyed in their previous episodes respectively, Mr. Bean and Back to School Mr. Bean.
Censorships
- In a 2014 airing of this episode on the currently defunct Disney Channel Asia, the part where the man pulls his pants and underwear down in the bathroom stall was cut due to the half-nudity. Later, in 2016, the scene where the man next to Mr. Bean bows in front of the queen was edited out due to timing.
- In Portugal VHS releases, the scene where a man pulls his pants and underwear down in the bathroom stall was cut due to half-nudity, and the scene where the man next to Mr. Bean bows in front of the queen was modified for the release. In the VHS release, his animation is edited out.
- However, in later VHS releases, the episode is completely uncensored.
Gallery
Title Cards
Main Episode
In Other Languages
| Language | Title |
|---|---|
| Arabic | عودة السيد بين |
| French | Le Retour de Mr Bean |
| German | Die Rückkehr von Mr Bean |
| Hindi | मिस्टर बीन की वापसी |
| Italian | Il Ritorno di Mr. Bean |
| Portuguese | A Volta de Mr. Bean |
| Russian | Возвращение мистера Бина |
| Spanish | El Regreso de Mr Bean |
| Gallery | Videos | Transcript |
|---|
| Mr. Bean |
|---|
| Episodes |
| Mr. Bean • The Return of Mr. Bean • The Curse of Mr. Bean • Mr. Bean Goes to Town • The Trouble with Mr. Bean • Mr. Bean Rides Again • Merry Christmas, Mr. Bean • Mr. Bean in Room 426 • Do-It-Yourself Mr. Bean • Mind the Baby, Mr. Bean • Back to School Mr. Bean • Tee Off, Mr. Bean • Goodnight Mr. Bean • Hair by Mr. Bean of London |
| Compilation |
| The Best Bits of Mr. Bean |
| Unaired sketches |
| The Library • The Bus Stop |
| Deleted scenes |
| Turkey Weight • Armchair Sale • Marching • Playing With Matches |
| Comic Reliefs |
| Mr. Bean's Red Nose Day• Blind Date• Torvill & Bean • Mr. Bean's Wedding • Funeral |
| Remake sketches |
| Mr. Bean Takes an Exam • Mr. Bean Goes to a Première |
| Commercials |
| Rema 1000 • M&M's • PolyGram Filmed Entertainment • Fujifilm • Nissan Tino • Snickers • Etisalat |
| YouTube specials |
| Mr. Bean's 25th Anniversary • Beans Gets Diamond Play Button |
| Films |
| Bean • Mr. Bean's Holiday
|